John Harvey Kellogg

Kellogg, John Harvey, 1852–1943, American physician, health-food advocate, and breakfast cereal developer, b. Tyrone, N.Y., grad. New York Univ. (M.D., 1875) and continued his medical studies in Europe. Beginning in 1876, he and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, 1860–1951, ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where they implemented their theories about the healthfulness of a fiber-filled diet, developing several dry flaked breakfast cereals, such as wheat and cornflakes. They also called for vegetarianism; demanded abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea; and practiced hydro and light therapy. John H. Kellogg was also the creator of various exercise machines and medical instruments. A tireless promoter of healthy living, he wrote almost 50 books on the subject. The two brothers founded (1897) a company to produce breakfast cereals, and in 1906 W. K. Kellogg left to found what became the Kellogg Company. He also established (1930) the Kellogg Foundation.